​Spotify's Discover Weekly still has one big advantage over Pandora’s newest feature

Reuters I've been testing Thumbprint Radio, a brand-new feature from the internet radio service Pandora, for more than a week now, and I'm generally impressed.

After years of not regularly using the internet radio service, the new station, which is based on everything you've ever "thumbed up" on Pandora rather than on one band, artist, or genre, has made me love Pandora again.

Thumbprint Radio is essentially Pandora's version of Discover Weekly, the Spotify playlist that week updates every Monday morning with a new set of songs the streaming music service thinks you'll like.

But Discover Weekly still has one big advantage over Thumbprint Radio — discovering new music I enjoy.

In my week of using Thumbprint Radio, I've been treated to dozens of songs from some of my favorite artists — Ryan Adams, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, Pink Floyd, and more — but I haven't heard much new music. I will be the first to tell you that I don't know much about music, but my Thumbprint Radio station surfaced few artists and songs I'd never heard of.

Contrast that with my latest Discover Weekly playlist from Spotify, which is full of music that's new to me:

Screenshot/Spotify Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing for Pandora, though the company does bill Thumbprint Radio as a tool to help you discover new music. "This is not just your thumbs up on shuffle," Pandora said in a press release announcing the new service. "While you rediscover all of your favorites (songs you thumbed up 10 minutes to 10 years ago) we will continue to add in new songs that we think you will love."

Thumbprint Radio will no doubt improve with time, and Pandora says it will get better the more you use it.

Plus, Spotify and Pandora are fundamentally different products — Spotify is an on-demand service that allows you to listen to almost any song you want, while Pandora is an internet radio station — and I use them differently.

As I wrote previously, it's not a zero sum game, because for me, the two services complement one another.